The International Technical Cooperation Seminar of the Jean Monnet Chair on "Regional Development, Infrastructure and Cohesion: The Experiences of the European Union and South America" was organized by the National Development Bank Staff Association (AFBNDES) with the support of the Regional Programme Energy Security and Climate Change in Latin America (EKLA) of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS).

The event, which took place on October 16 and 17 in Rio de Janeiro, at the BNDES headquarters, focused on analyzing the advances and perspectives of regional integration, placing at the center of the debate the issue of social participation envisaged in the agreements themselves, as well as the role of development banks as instruments capable of providing technical and financial support in infrastructure. In particular, attention was paid to the role of BNDES, the main agent for the implementation of the Brazilian federal government's investment policy.

The thematic focus of the event was the role of infrastructure for development, with an analysis of the potentialities and challenges within the framework of the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA); energy integration as a dialogue solution for sustainable development; the European Cohesion Funds and the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP, followed by a debate on the adoption of a common agricultural policy in South America; development cooperation in Europe, South America and Asia; the economic outlook and the role of development banks.

Over the years, South America has been developing initiatives aimed at regional integration, based on the right to a clean and ecologically balanced environment, popular participation and the reduction of asymmetries. Among the various initiatives, we can highlight MERCOSUR, the Andean Community of Nations, the Amazon Cooperation Treaty and, more recently, IIRSA, which was created in 2000 and incorporated into the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in 2011, in of the technical forum of COSIPLAN (Council of Infrastructure and Planning). However, the integration structure is highly fragmented, requiring improvements in governance and legal certainty. Faced with this diagnosis, and aiming at greater engagement of the academia, the private sector and the financial sector in the projects of the region, the debate focused on the analysis of the current scenario, comparisons with European and Asian integration models, and suggestions for the future.